Kenny Anderson
Kenneth (Kenny) Anderson (born October 9, 1970 in Queens, New York) is an American Basketball player. After an extraordinary college career at Georgia Institute of Technology, he went on to play Point guard for more than a decade in the National Basketball Association. He most recently has been hosting various basketball skills camps for youths, as well as helping prepare college players hoping to be selected in the NBA Draft. Anderson is currently Head Coach of The Hombres, one of six teams in the extreme sports league Slamball. Early life As a 16-year-old high school sophomore, the LeFrak City, Queens native who attended academic and athletic powerhouse Archbishop Molloy High School in Briarwood, was considered one of the best basketball prospects in America. Anderson was considered so special in his childhood that there were recruiters at his sixth-grade games and he was on the front page of the New York City sports section when he was 14. By the end of his high school career, he was a three-time Parade All-American, a feat not accomplished since Lew Alcindor and the first player to be named All-City four times. In addition, he was a McDonald's All-American, Gatorade's high school Player of the Year and Player of the Year by the New York State Sportswriters Association, and was named Mr. Basketball by the New York State Coaches Organization. Despite his coach, Jack Curran, benching him for the first quarter of all of his games during his freshman year at Molloy, Anderson set the all-time state record for scoring in New York, with 2,621 points. This record stood for 18 years. On to Georgia Tech After a long recruiting process, the hotly pursued Anderson signed a letter of intent in November 1988 to play at Georgia Institute of Technology, selecting the upstart Yellow Jackets over national powers North Carolina, Duke and Syracuse. Becoming the team's starting point guard almost immediately, Anderson played two years for Georgia Tech, helping lead his team to the Final Four in 1990 along with swingmen Dennis Scott (basketball) and Brian Oliver, who were nicknamed "Lethal Weapon 3." It was Anderson's controversial shot at the end of regulation during the Round of 16 that forced overtime versus favored Michigan State, with the Yellow Jackets pulling away. Georgia Tech's tournament run ended versus eventual champion UNLV in the Final Four. With Scott and Oliver gone after that season, Anderson was left to carry a young Georgia Tech team on his back, averaging nearly 26 points a game, but the team could only secure a #8 seed for the NCAA Tournament, losing in the second round to Ohio State. Soon after, Anderson announced that he would forgo his last two years of eligibility to enter the NBA Draft. He played for the US national team in the 1990 FIBA World Championship, winning the bronze medal. The NBA Anderson was selected by the New Jersey Nets with the second pick in the 1991 NBA Draft. He was the youngest player in the league at that time. He failed to make an impact during his Rookie campaign in 1991-92, averaging only seven points, two Rebound (basketball) and 3.2 Assist (basketball) per game. However, in Anderson's second season he broke out, more than doubling his point, rebound and assist averages. In his third season, he averaged 18.8 ppg and 9.6 apg. Anderson and his Nets' teammate, Derrick Coleman, both represented the East squad in the 1994 NBA All-Star Game. He played solidly (albeit with a tendency to be injury-prone) for the next 3½ seasons before being traded to the Charlotte Hornets in 1996. Throughout his career Anderson has played for the Hornets (including both Charlotte and New Orleans franchises), Portland Trail Blazers, Boston Celtics, Seattle SuperSonics and the Indiana Pacers, and split a season for the Atlanta Hawks and Los Angeles Clippers. In 1998, Portland traded Anderson to the Toronto Raptors for Damon Stoudamire, but he refused to report to the Raptors because he did not want to play in Canada. Without playing a single game for them, Anderson forced the Raptors' hand and they traded him to the Celtics for Chauncey Billups. Anderson was released from Lithuania's Zalgiris Kaunas after the 2005-06 season. Personal life Anderson is the son of Joan, and has two sisters: Sandra and Danielle . Anderson has seven children, including two sons born the same year named Kenneth Jr. He has daughters Danielle (1990) with an unknown woman and daughter Christy (1992) with DJ Spinderella of band Salt 'N Pepa. With first wife Tami he has daughters Lyric Chanel(1995), and Kenni Lauren (1996) . From his mistress of ten years Sunny Castro, he has sons Ken Jr (1998) and Devin (2001). With second wife Tamiyka Lockhart he has another son named Ken Jr . Anderson has experienced off-court problems. From 1994-2001 he was married to The Real World: Los Angeles contestant Tami Akbar Anderson (now known as Tami Roman ). Akbar filed for divorce in December, 1998 citing Anderson's infidelity. According to the New York Daily News, she challenged the couples' 1994 pre-nuptual agreement that would have limited her claim to his assets and $5.8 million 1998 salary. At the time of the divorce Anderson was paying $7,200 in monthly child support to Spinderella. Tami reportedly acquired a sizeable portion of his assets, though she has claimed on Twitter that Anderson is $400,000 behind on what was reported to be $8500 in monthly child support payments. Dan LeBetard also reported that one of Anderson's ex-wives had a license plate custom-made with the phrase "HISCASH". After the NBA Noted on The Jim Rome Show Anderson was named as the new coach of the CBA's Atlanta Krunk. The team is owned by Freedom Williams of C+C Music Factory. In 2008, Anderson made a TV appearance on Pro's vs Joe's. References External links * NBA.com biography *